Summer Crafting

Summer's a fun time for crafting. This summer I found myself working on lots of little things as I had time. I picked up this great storage case at IKEA and filled it with craft supplies for an on-the-go crafting kit! It worked great, especially for doing little projects away from home, like with my niece and nephew.

We made friendship bracelets and shrinky dinks! (BTW, all you pin-it-wherever bracelet makers: TRY A CLIPBOARD! It's so much nicer for making friendship bracelets.)

AND I got into something new: hand carved stamps. I was inspired especially by the tutorials here and here to try it out. It's a bit challenging but quite fun. Just remember to do your letters backwards so they stamp correctly! (You'll be so mad if you forget.)

I'm keeping my kit loaded for more crafting on the fly with friends, but I'm ready to tackle some larger, more long term projects, too. Farewell summer. It's been fun.

Fat Quarterly Issue 6 is out!

And I'm in it! Yay!

I was so happy to be asked to contribute to the Designer's Challenge in the latest issue of Fat Quarterly. It was a Churn Block challenge, and I so enjoyed coming up with variations on the block (which I've also heard referred to as the Monkey Wrench, thus my monkey theme).

I turned my blocks into a soft baby book. More of my step-by-step process can be found in FQ issue 6 in the Designer Challenge, starting on page 39. And, as always, the rest of the issue is filled with wonderful project ideas and inspiration. I really enjoy this sewing e-zine.

If I inspire you to make a soft baby book like mine, I'd love to see it! You can share in the Fat Quarterly Flickr pool and in my Wendymoon Designs Flickr pool. Happy sewing!

New Tea Wallets

Just listed these in the shop!

Sock Monkey PJs

As soon as I saw the "Goodnight Monkey" fabrics by Erin Michaels for Moda, I knew I had to have some. The cute little sleepy-time monkeys were just screaming out to be made into pjs. And they come in flannel -- even better!

Thanks to a pattern sale and the Sew Mama Sew September Pajama Party Sew-Along, I finally finished up some pj pants. (Just in time, too!)


No, I didn't make the pj shirt or slippers I'm sporting here, although I had been putting off mending that Paul Frank monkey shirt, and making the pajama pants motivated me to finish.

The pattern I used was Simplicity 2821, and it was very easy and fast. (I mean, we're talking about elastic waist pants here.) The pattern also includes a pajama top, which I might still make. I need more fabric for that, though. (Btw, I bought this fabric at Whipstich on Etsy, where there's currently a flood sale going on. Check it out for some bargains!)


Although I followed the measurements to get my size, I think I actually could have gone a size smaller for these. Since I am short I also had to move the waistband. They still seem baggy, but I guess that's ok for pjs.

Finished sewing the pants yesterday and broke them in last night. They are super comfy! I love the flannel and the fabric design (Monkey in the Moon = sock monkeys in a night sky with stars and bananas for moons). I think today might have to be a stay-in-your-pjs-all-day day!

Monkey Business

I happen to really like monkeys. All kinds of monkeys. But especially sock monkeys.

You know who else is into sock monkeys? My niece and nephew. We made some fun stripe-y ones together one time.

In carrying on the sock monkey love, I've made two pouches to fill with goodies and give to my niece and nephew. Here they are: (The pouches, not the kids. The kids are even cuter!)


Here's the two pouches together. You can see a hint here of the fun polka-dots on the inside fabric.


This flat one is for my nephew. I made it using this cool & easy pouch template.


This one is for my niece. She is almost at the age to use it for makeup! I added gussets to make it stand up on its own. (Hope my nephew is not jealous.)

The end. :-)